The peak of an ancient Egyptian pyramid that had stood for millennia suddenly exploded into a shower of rock and sand in the blazing hot desert sun. Shego waved away the dust and deflected bits of rock with an arm. She coughed out of reflex as the sand settled around her and she grinned at the majority of what was left of the age old structure. Touching her fingertips together, a ball of energy formed from the arcing wisps of green fire and she released it like a baseball toward the pyramid, causing another massive explosion that vaporized a corner, collapsing the pyramid in on itself.
"Shego?" Drakken's voice resonated in Shego's mind and she narrowed her eyes at her target, firing a constant volley of green energy at the remaining rubble as it fell. "Shego!"
Shego sighed in irritation as the dust cleared, revealing the pyramid to be nothing more than a crater full of rubble. "Are you going to keep talking in my head like this, Dr. D?" she asked, inspecting her robotic claws.
"Yes, Shego." Drakken replied with impatience. "Why have you stopped?"
Shego suddenly paused. "Are you tracking me?!"
Lord Drakken sat in his control room, overseeing multiple projects at once on his view screen and he buried his face in his gloved hand for a moment, suddenly wondering why he had decided to try out his new toy instead of sending his ever loyal warlord, Erik. "Yes, Shego. I keep much better track of my assets now than I used to."
"Your assets?!" Shego protested in rising anger.
To her surprise, Drakken was unfazed. "Yes. You are an asset in my quest for world domination!" he shouted, slamming his mechanical fist on the arm of his chair. "Now what stopped you?"
Shego clenched her hands into fists. "Something got in my way, alright?"
"Threat level?" Drakken asked, swiveling in his chair to review his latest project that focused on the Styx phase. With project Charon only a marginal success, it was becoming time to up the stakes.
"High enough..." Shego grumbled, glaring at the rubble before her.
Drakken leaned forward in his chair, taking a closer look at several minor uprisings in Australia. "Fine. Continue to your target, then." he ordered, sitting back in his chair and mentally commanding Erik to quench the rebellion Down Under.
The Kepler flew silently over the Egyptian desert with not even the sand stirring at its passing. The crew sat in their respective positions quietly. The last spur of the moment mission had been a success, and despite losing the synthodrone data banks and nearly losing Dr. Possible's holographic representation and the GJ base itself, Kim and her friends were feeling a subdued elation. Even Ron wore a smile again after his rematch with Erik. It had been relatively quiet lately, though Kim knew that retaliation would be coming soon.
"Got a lock on that power source, Wade?" Kim asked, breaking the silence in the ship. It had been only a few hours since he had intercepted communication chatter of Drakken's forces. They had apparently come across a strange power source in the middle of the Black Desert in Western Egypt, and Kim was determined to get there first.
"It's down deep, Kim." Wade replied. "Should be right below us." he nodded.
"Okay, Joss; take us down easy. We'll suit up before heading out, just in case Drakken's troops made it here before we did." Kim said as Joss nodded and set the Kepler down on a rocky outcropping that was layered with black volcanic ash.
Ron squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his hands over his ears as the rest of the crew stood, touching the small silver GJ button on their collars. Even through his eyelids, the flashes of light were nearly blinding and the final orchestra of thunder of the four battle suits activating blared in the enclosed space of the Kepler's cockpit. "Y'know, you could actually let me get out before you do that." Ron said. His complaints went relatively ignored however, as the crew filed out of the ship and into the silty black sand.
"Better hide the Kepler, Wade." Kim suggested as the entry ramp closed behind them. Wade opened a flap on his gauntlet and keyed a series of buttons before the ship began to shimmer in the hot sun, taking on a black rocky form that melded seamlessly with the environment. "Let's jet."
Wade took the lead into a maze of rocks that had been formed by age old lava flows, guided only by the scanner on his wrist. "I'm detecting a tunnel network about fifty meters down the lava tube, Kim." he announced.
Ron gasped. "Why is it so hot in here?!" he whined, quickly removing his hand from the rock wall. His black Global Justice uniform was plastered to his skin and the sweat on his brow was evaporating even as he perspired. "We're in the shade!"
Joss looked back at him, grinning behind the mask of her environmentally conditioned battle suit. "Really? I hadn't noticed."
"It's just afternoon. The black ash holds in the heat." Wade commented. "This lava tube would be like a microwave at mid day."
"Lava tube?" Ron asked hesitantly. "You mean..."
"Active volcanoes are all over this area." Joss informed him. "It's mostly ash we're walking in." Ron frowned, stopping for a moment before Rufus urged him forward with his mechanical body.
"So we're willingly walking down a path that could flood with molten rock at any time." Ron panted. "Good to know." The crevice opened up into a wider area with columns of porous volcanic rock that jetted up from the floor. "Anyone else have a bad feeling about that?" he asked as the group spread out into the clearing.
"I do." Kim said, finally speaking up.
"Really?" Ron asked, surprised.
"Get down!" Kim shouted back, tackling Ron to the ground as an energy blast shot out from a shallow cave, illuminating the synthodrone that held the rifle. Bolts began to rain down from every angle and Kim hand sprung from on top of Ron and the myonetic capacitors of her suit launched her up to one of the synthodrone's hiding places. "Time to power on, Ron! Wade, find an entrance!" she ordered, gripping the arm of the synthodrone and tossing it down to the rocky floor below.
Ron leaped to his feet before the synthodrone replaced his position on the ground. Joss drew both of her personally modified energy pistols, taking cover behind one of the columns of rock that was shattering into sharp bits that began spraying her black and gold battle armor. Wade sat beside her, inspecting his scanner for a topographical map of the area. Rufus stood mainly in the open, taking numerous hits that either bounced off or fizzled to small burn marks while he returned fire with his energy cannon.
The rocky cavity was lit up with blue and red lights as the fire fight sprang to life and Ron leaped to a crevice containing a pair of synthodrones that were returning fire to the group below from behind the ashen rock. He spun in mid flight to avoid the bolts of energy that filled the area before he smashed through the synthodrones cover, the flicker of a great monkey's shadow bathing the room for a moment in a blue glow. The shards of shale sliced through the synthodrones thick husks, pouring their fluids over the back of the crevice.
Joss turned from the column of rock, her battle suits targeting computer picking out targets. With each shot, the capacitors in each pistol rotated and began charging again, expending their entire energy reserve before the cylinder placed another capacitor in the firing chamber, allowing for a greater yield than a more conventional energy pistol like Kim's or Wade's. While this meant a slower fire rate as well, Joss compensated for this with her natural ambidexterity and with each on-target tone that rang through her helmet, she pulled the trigger, effectively disintegrating each synthodrone into a fine yellow mist. She rolled to avoid return fire and came to a standing position with her back to Rufus.
Wade grinned at his echolocation scanner and pointed at a less porous area of the rock wall. "There!" he shouted over the raucous firefight. "There's a tunnel network behind there!"
"Rufus, give us an exit!" Kim shouted, firing her energy pistol with uncanny accuracy from her covered position above the rest of her crew. As Ron continued leaping from alcove to alcove, Kim kept an eye on any synthodrones that were attempting to target him.
Rufus let the energy cannon that was mounted to his robot body's hip to swing away and charged at the wall, breaking through in a cloud of ash and thick dust. "Wade, get going!" Joss said, crouching and continuing to fire. "I'll cover you!" Wade nodded, standing and charging after Rufus and signaling Joss to follow. "Kim! Time to ride!"
Kim watched as Joss followed Wade into the makeshift entrance and she dived out of the alcove she had taken refuge in, the myonetic components of her battle armor cushioning her fall as she landed, rolled, then continued running. "Ron! We need to close this up! Come on!"
"On my way, KP!" Ron shouted back, tossing another synthodrone to the floor below to be impaled on a volcanic stalagmite. He followed after it, dodging energy fire from the remaining synthodrones as he landed and ran towards the hole in the wall. The sound of synthodrones dropping to the ground behind him caused Ron to turn inside the entrance and he grinned at them, striking the walls of the tunnel with glowing fists. The synthodrones took aim with their rifles as the walls of the dry lava pool began to collapse and Kim yanked on Ron's belt to pull him clear of the collapsing entrance.
Ron coughed against the resulting dust cloud in the enclosed space and reached out for Kim in the darkness. "Ron?" Kim asked. "Little light?"
He could be heard sighing as a blue glow slowly washed over the walls of the tunnel and down its length. "Ultimate cosmic power, and I'm being used as a flash light." he stated dryly, crossing his arms over his chest.
"I sure hope there's another exit." Joss said, holstering her pistols and allowing her helmet to fold away into a compact form around her collar.
"Not to worry." Wade smiled. "We've got the Tunnel Lord on our side." He continued, gesturing to Rufus. The naked mole rat lifted the face place on his robot body and nodded, cracking the knuckles of his tiny paws.
"What?" Joss asked, confused.
"Never mind." Kim said, taking the lead. "We should conserve power, just in case. So be careful." she added, deactivating her battle armor in a flicker of diminishing light and a soft deepening tone of immense energy being stored. Wade and Joss followed suit and Rufus leaped to Ron's shoulder as he did the same.
Ron watched in wonderment as the bulky, humanoid robot vanished into a gleam of energy to be stored in Rufus's collar. "That is so rockin' that that thing can do that!" he grinned, high fiving Rufus with a single finger.
"Actually, I've been using the technology in the Kimmunicator and your old jet packs for years. Throwing in a fusion reactor and it was a short leap to military applications." Wade said proudly. Both Ron and Rufus stared at him in confusion before shrugging, and Wade sighed. "Okay, yes. It's rockin'."
"I'm just happy to be out of the hot sun!" Ron stated as the group began making their way down the tunnel.
"I keep telling you, Ron. We have extra battle suits. Why don't you use one?" Wade asked, following behind Kim and Joss while Ron and Rufus were at the end of the line.
Ron crossed his arms defensively, turning away as he did. "Maybe I don't want a crutch..."
"Since when?" Wade retorted, but was cut off by Kim.
"Hey!" she whispered. "Sneak much?"
"Sorry, Kim." the two men responded in unison before the group carried on. The floor of the cavern seemed unnaturally smooth and well traveled. Wade looked down at his scanner and frowned. "Signal's strong, Kim. We're definitely getting close to the..." From the darkness of a recess in the rock wall protruded a bowling ball sized orb connected to an articulated metal arm. It shot out to nearly an inch from Kim's face before a metal eyelid-like mechanism revealed a glassy red sphere inside. "...source."
"Very astute, Wade." Kim said sarcastically.
"Identify yourselves." came a squawky, electronic voice from the orb as it pulled away from Kim in order to view the entire group.
"I'm Captain Kimberly-Anne Possible of Global Justice." Kim said, introducing herself. "This is..."
"I know of your reputation, Kim Possible. Nevertheless, you and your friends are welcome here in Sanctuary." the disembodied voice said before the metal eyelid closed and the orb retracted back into the wall.
"What's that mean?" Joss asked incredulously.
The wall began to split along an invisible seam and Kim stepped through, cautiously holstering her pistol with Joss following behind. Wade began to follow as well before Ron stopped him and whispered. "How's your battle suite going to hold up being swallowed whole by a pit monster?" he smiled, allowing his mystical glow to fade away into wisps of blue smoke.
Wade seemed confused for a moment before staring at the dark recess that the orb had retracted into. "Let's just try to keep an open mind, okay?" he chuckled back.
The scenery Kim walked into was amazing, and her mouth hung open as Joss stepped up beside her, speaking before thinking. "Holy sh..."
"Shazam!" Wade finished for her as the rest of the group pushed into the entryway. The surrounding rock melded almost seamlessly into highly decorated, manufactured walls composed of earthy tones beneath real live vines with budding flowers. There was a hint of natural fragrances on the air and Kim had to stifle a cough. Even the GJ base didn't have air this clean. The sound of the odd cricket resounded and a butterfly staggered in the air to land on Rufus's nose.
"It's beautiful..." Kim whispered to herself. Beyond the plaster walls that lead off in either direction, Kim could see more rock down the hallway ahead of them, and the sound of rushing water was evident as they walked toward it. She stepped forward cautiously and grasped a steel railing that separated the balcony they were now on from a massive cavern that held a waterfall that fed a large pool that was surrounded by people that leisured around the steaming water.
"Wow!" the others said as they came up beside Kim, leaning on the railing.
"It's been a long time since I've heard real, no worries kinda laughter." Joss commented with a smile as the group watched and listened to the people below. Ron quickly covered Wade's eyes with his hands as he spotted a small group of skinny dippers.
"Welcome to Sanctuary, Kim Possible." came a male voice. Kim turned to see a man with round, gold framed glasses walking toward them with a younger woman beside him. Both individuals had brown hair, and wore comfortable looking clothing reminiscent of styles before the Diablo War. "Like many before you who have grown tired of war, Sanctuary is a place for you to lay down your weapons and find a haven to rest."
Kim stared at the man with recognition. "Thank you, but we have no intention of sticking around." Ron seemed about to protest at her proclamation, but got an elbow from Joss for his effort.
"Still, once you've had a chance to look around and enjoy our amenities, I have no doubt that you'll change your mind."
"Do we know you?" Ron asked, suspicion evident in his voice.
The man smiled with a maw of crooked and broken teeth. Joss, Wade, Ron, and Rufus gasped at the sight, but Kim merely swallowed hard, unfazed. "Walter Nelson." she stated plainly.
"Ah! You remember." Walter said, hiding his teeth behind his lips again. "It's been a long time, Kim. Our brace lock left me with a lot to think about over the years as the orthodontist wasn't able to repair the damage. When the Diablo War started, I had feared the worst." The woman beside him cleared her throat quietly, causing Walter to turn. "Of course. Where are my manners?" he laughed lightly. "This is my sister, Olivia. Together, we've lead the people here since the onset of Lord Drakken's rule."
Olivia had an attractive, if average seventeen year old appearance with fading freckles on her cheeks and sparkling straight teeth when she smiled, in contrast to her older brother's. Her shoulder length hair was tied back in a pony tail with bangs that were styled to cover her forehead.
Her voice was quieter than Walter's, but deeper; portraying far less confidence than her brother. "Walter and I will be your guides around Sanctuary." she said, then subtly batted her eyes at Wade. "If there are any of you that would like to come with me..."
Wade began to stammer and mumble until Joss pushed him forward. "He'd be honored." she smiled, her country twang slipping into her accent. As Wade hesitantly accepted Olivia's outstretched hand and began walking away, Walter motioned for Kim and the others to follow him.
The rest of the complex was just as amazing as the underground lake they had witnessed upon entering. From hydroponics farms and cleaning robots to more expanses of empty caverns full of people that seemed oblivious to the war going on above them. A slow walk brought the group into a control room where Walter began explaining their situation. "This used to be an aeronautics testing facility that my father worked in. Shortly after the Diablos destroyed the world's governments, he sent Olivia and I here to live amongst the workers and their families.
"Why was there an American aeronautics facility in Egypt?" Kim asked, genuine curiosity showing through. Joss began wandering around the room casually, paying attention to controls and readings that were displayed on carious consoles.
Walter smiled again and Ron coughed and swallowed, gagging slightly. "My Dad's work wasn't talked about in the open very much. When we got here, we found that the entire facility was run on geothermal power. It has immense hydroponics labs, as you've seen, and was fed by underground rivers."
"Even with being off of the grid, Drakken must have heard of you. How are you managing to stay clear?" Kim asked.
"Not even Drakken's forces can penetrate a mile of solid rock." Walter replied confidently. "Here we can live in peace until Drakken's Synthetic Empire passes and our children or their descendants can return to the surface."
"Sounds a lot like the Shangri-La that Yori mentioned." Ron commented, drawing Kim's attention.
Turning back to Walter, Kim smiled politely, but shook her head. "I appreciate the invitation, Walter. But putting my head in the sand and hoping that Drakken will just go away isn't how I roll."
Walter chuckled. "Of course. I really couldn't expect anything less from you, Kim. But the offer still stands. Make yourselves comfortable while you're..."
"Mr. Nelson, you're required in Section 'D'. Mr. Nelson, Section 'D'." came a female voice from the room's intercom.
"My apologies." Walter said calmly. "I guess someone needs me." Walter began to usher Kim and her crew out of the control room before closing the secured door. "Please make use of our modest luxuries, and don't be afraid to call or beep me if you need me."
Ron put on a fake smile and waved as Walter left. "Bad road, Kim."
"You say that about everyone that's more friendly to me than you, Ron." Kim replied, rolling her eyes.
"And have I been wrong?" Ron asked defensively.
Kim narrowed her eyes at him, but was interrupted by Joss before she could offer a retort. "Kim, I checked the power requirements of Sanctuary and I reckon the power that they're gettin' from the geothermal plants are way over the limit of what even a city would require."
"So where's all that extra power going?" Ron asked.
"Good question." Kim agreed. "Joss, have a look around. See what you can find out."
"Take Rufus." Ron said, setting the naked mole rat on the younger woman's shoulder. "He'll watch your back."
"Spankin'." Joss smiled at the rodent, then drifted off a little too casually, whistling a steady tune.
"In the meantime, we should get Walter to show us how to get back to the surface." Kim said, folding her arms over her chest.
"Good idea." Ron replied. "Though you didn't answer. Have I ever been wrong about people?" he grinned. Kim only growled.
Wade and Olivia both walked slowly through the halls of Sanctuary before coming to a bench. Wade stepped out of the way of a passerby as Olivia took a seat, smiling up at him. "Have you liked what you've seen?"
He caught himself staring back and quickly looked at the floor, putting his hands in his pockets and digging his toe into the polished tile. "Yeah! I mean, kinda. I mean, this place is really, er..."
Olivia giggled slightly, tapping the area of the bench beside her. Other than Kim and Joss, Wade had barely even seen a woman in person and was suddenly feeling flushed and queasy. Nervously, he took the seat next to her, placing his hands rigidly on his lap. "I wish you could stay." she whispered, placing a hand on his.
Wade's eyes suddenly darted to the sudden warmth of Olivia's hand on his. "I do too..." he said hesitantly. "But Kim needs me. The world needs all of us." he stated, then turned to look into Olivia's aquamarine eyes. "But it actually seems safe here. It's nice to see people that are so happy."
Olivia immediately looked away and her smile faded. With a suddenly tired sigh, she stood and moved away a few paces before turning back to Wade. "Yes. Walter has done his best to help the people of Sanctuary. To keep us all safe from Drakken. Sometimes... that's required some difficult decisions. And..."
"And your friends are looking for you, Wade." Walter said, placing his hands on Olivia's shoulders, causing her to flinch in surprise. "Please..." he continued, gesturing down the hall. Wade stepped by the siblings, smiling and nodding to Olivia as he did, and continued down the hall. Olivia began to follow, but Walter clamped a hand down on her shoulder. "It seems Wade's friends are getting eager to go." he whispered. "You have to help me persuade them to stay just a little longer."
Olivia shook off his hands from her shoulders. "Walter, these are good people! I don't want to be a part of this!"
"Neither do I." Walter replied, turning Olivia to face him. "Kim Possible is the best. She always has been. In time, she'll see that this is the only way that Sanctuary... that the world can be saved." he argued, his face taking on a red hue as he bit out the words. "It's for the greater good, Olivia."
Reluctantly, she nodded and Walter smiled. "The greater good..."
Joss made her way through the clean and tidy halls of Sanctuary with Rufus on her shoulder, keeping a sharp eye on their surroundings. She smiled politely to the denizens of the underground city as she passed them, and felt somehow awkward amongst so many people. The last three of her years had been spent in a large complex with four other people and a rodent, and the two before that had been as an undercover GJ agent that had left her with memories of questionable deeds that she hadn't shared with anyone. Needless to say, her attempts at sarcasm and humor had pushed her away from most people they had come across outside of Kim's team. She sighed, suddenly aware of her loneliness when a small black and white form sitting on the floor and propped up against the wall caught her attention. "Is that what I think it is?" she asked herself.
The stuffed toy resembled a half panda, half kangaroo with large yellow feet and a penguin-like physique. Joss picked the stuffed toy up in her hands and gave it a playful squeeze while looking into its sad eyes. "Well how did you get out here, Pandaroo?" she asked. Predictably, the stuffed toy didn't answer. "You look just like the one cousin Kim used to have."
As Joss continued to inspect the toy, Rufus dropped from her shoulder and scurried down her tight fitting GJ uniform. He continued down the hall and past a few more doors, sniffing the air and twitching his whiskers. Suddenly, he began chittering wildly and pointing at a door that seemed out of place with a high security electronic lock rather than a typical doorknob.
"What'd you find, Rufus?" Joss asked, placing the Pandaroo back where she had found it. As she approached the door that Rufus was pointing at, her eye was drawn to the keypad and security card combination that was keeping the door closed. "Well ain't that a kick between the chaps. Walter said..." she began, then smiled and waved at a passerby as she leaned against the door. "... that we'd have access to all the rooms." she continued, pulling out a small syringe looking tool. While capturing a synthodrone was difficult, the technology they were based upon was relatively simple to mimic. As Joss stabbed the card lock and pushed down on the plunger of the syringe, a purple fluid coursed through the keypad, displaying the proper key code and matching the correct magnetic frequency to open the lock. A soft tone sounded and Joss pushed the door open, feeling Rufus climb up to her shoulder again.
Inside the darkened storage room were at least two dozen barrels with familiar blue symbols decalled on. "Rufus..." Joss said in shock. "These symbols are from those synthodrone memory banks we captured." Rufus gasped, holding his paws to his cheeks. "I reckon this looks like the Styx phase of Project New World Order! We'd better tell Kim." she said, turning to exit. The sound of a capacitor charging drew her attention to a large purple and black form looming in the doorway before a blast hit them both, turning their world a hazy white.
Olivia caught up to Wade, taking his hand in hers and looking around nervously. "Wade, I have to tell you something."
Surprised, Wade immediately tried to calm her by placing his other hand on her shoulder. "What's wrong?"
"You..." she began hurriedly. "Your friends. You're all..."
"Leaving." Walter said, seemingly coming out of nowhere and stepping between Wade and Olivia with a wicked smile. "And there's nothing else we can do to change their minds." Wade cast a confused glance at Olivia, who only looked away and tired to hide that she was wiping her cheeks with her hand.
Walter quickly herded them back toward the control room and as the door slid open, Kim and Ron turned, casting a suspicious look at Olivia before turning their attention to Walter. "Last chance, Kim." he said.
Kim smiled, but shook her head. "I'm sorry, Walter. But I can't let the people that are still up there suffer under Drakken's New World Order. That being said, I think it's time we head back to the surface."
"Completely understandable, Kim." Walter replied. He moved to a console on the wall and adjusted a number of dials. "Sanctuary has a number of exit passages that can still be used in case of an emergency."
"What about Joss and Rufus?" Ron asked as Wade took a position next to Kim, still staring with a frown at Olivia, who refused to meet his gaze.
Walter turned and smiled, causing Ron to hold up a hand to block the view. "On their way." As if on cue, the door's buzzer rang and Walter touched the opening mechanism. "That's probably them now."
The control room door slid open and Joss was forced in by a synthodrone that was followed by a dozen others. The young woman was holding her forehead with one hand and grasping a still unconscious naked mole rat in the other as the synthodrone held her back, away from the rest of her team. "Joss! What happened?!" Kim asked, her gaze turning toward Walter as he stood against the wall, unsurprised.
A shimmer in the air in the center of the control room formed into a head and torso image of Lord Drakken and he grinned. "Haven't you learned yet, Kim Possible?" Drakken laughed. "I control the world now, and you are alone. You always did trust too easily, and now you will pay the price."
"So the transmission we intercepted..." Wade began.
"Was deliberate." Drakken grinned.
"My bad." Wade admitted, grinning nervously.
"Wait a cotton pickin' second! You set this up?!" Joss asked, glaring at Walter.
Walter returned the glare. "I did what I had to, to provide safety for the people that trust me. Sanctuary is safe, but only in exchange for our utilities."
Ron turned to Kim and was about to say something, but she silenced him with a finger. "You, not a word." She then turned to Walter. "And you... you produce more than you need and sell the excess to the man who destroyed the world? You're just as bad as Drakken."
Walter's grin faded and he suddenly looked hurt, as though ashamed. "He did it for the world. All of our people were at stake. Our way of..." Olivia argued.
"We've heard it before, Olivia." Wade said, shooting her a glare and crossing his arms.
"Enough chit chat!" Drakken shouted. "Synthodrones, prepare them for digitization." he ordered, grinning at Walter. "All of them."
The first synthodrone placed a large hand on Joss's shoulder and Rufus leaped to life, landing on the synthodrone's face and sinking his incisors into its husk. The synthodrone quickly covered its face with its hands in an attempt to cover the wound and Rufus leaped into Ron's waiting hands. Kim and Wade drew their energy pistols, gunning down the remaining synthodrones inside the room before they could react. Joss shoved Walter to the side and slapped her palm against the door control, trapping one synthodrone in the entry way until the door sliced it cleanly in two.
A flash of flickering light and crashing thunder filled the room as Kim and her team activated their battle suits, drowning out Drakken's protests as he watched helplessly. Ron placed Rufus into his newly formed robotic body, then turned to face the door, his blue aura blazing to life. Closing his eyes, he almost seemed to dance as a shimmer of light gathered in his hands and he thrust his palm at the door. The resulting explosion of sudden air displacement blew the door outward, crushing several synthodrones against the other side of the hall. Kim charged out, firing her pistol into several synthodrones that hadn't been caught behind the door. "Let's jet!" she ordered, grabbing Walter by the shirt before he could escape. "You're coming with us, Nelson."
Drakken watched in frustration as the last of Kim Possible's team escaped the control room. "Gah! They didn't remove their weapons?!" he growled. "Shego!"
"Okay, Dr. D? If you're gonna be talking in my head, you're gonna have to keep the yelling to a minimum, alright?" Shego retorted, looking down the length of a rocky tunnel.
Drakken began stumbling over his words. For five years now he had been surrounded by fanatically loyal henchmen, and now Shego had come along. He lowered his voice. "She's there, Shego. Kim Possible. You remember? The girl that humiliated you with an easy defeat shortly before her father caused your death. A death I was able to reverse, I might add."
"You want a medal?" Shego asked defensively.
"I want you to hurt her. Like she hurt you. Digitize them all, but deliver her to me."
A grin played at Shego's metallic black lips and she suddenly became a blur, kicking up dust and ash as she raced down the lava tube toward the underground complex.
"Move it, Walter!" Kim ordered, dragging the man along the hallway by the shirt. A synthodrone turned the corner and Kim reflexively pulled the trigger on her pistol, blowing a smoking hole through its chest and continuing on without flinching.
"You don't understand!" Walter pleaded. "If you go with Drakken, he may let us live!"
"You willing to bet Sanctuary on Drakken's mercy?" Kim asked, suddenly stopping. "Wait, of course you are. You already did."
"Don't you see, Kim?" Walter asked. "If you're digitized, you can destroy him from the inside!"
Barely keeping her anger in check, Kim instead turned to Olivia. "You must have an evacuation procedure. Alert the people."
"Olivia..." Walter said, turning to his sister with a look of horror. Kim pushed him aside. "Noooo!"
Olivia hesitated for only a moment before bringing her wrist communicator to her lips. "Attention citizens of Sanctuary! Emergency evacuation procedures have begun. Please proceed to the nearest emergency exit immediately. Lord Drakken's troops have entered the complex. I repeat..." suddenly the sound of panicked screams could be heard echoing through the halls.
"You probably could have left out that last part." Ron commented, moving past the group to the next corner.
"Kim!" Joss said, stopping on her way by. "Rufus and I found some barrels like we found in the abandoned base awhile back. Looks like this place is a part of Drakken's Styx program."
Kim frowned, knowing immediately what had to be done. "Thanks, Joss. Get back to the Kepler and help evacuate." she said, then turned to Olivia. "I need to know how to overload the geothermal plant."
Olivia stared at her in disbelief and suddenly Walter was trying to wedge himself between them again. "Olivia, no! It'll destroy Sanctuary! Our way of life!" Finally, Kim rolled her eyes and quieted Walter with a quick punch to his mouth, scattering teeth and knocking him back to sit on the floor in a heap. "You broge my teef!" he pouted, staring down at the red and white bits on the floor.
"Olivia!" Kim shouted, shaking the girl out of her sudden shock. "It's over. Drakken has no further use for you or Sanctuary. If you don't come with us, you'll all be killed... or worse. Your way of life was destroyed a long time ago."
Olivia nodded. "Alright, I'll show you."
"Wade, Rufus, go with her. Ron, help Joss evacuate. I'll get Walter back to the Kepler." Kim said, dragging Walter to his feet. "Let's go."
It was nearly ten minutes later that Wade, Rufus, and Olivia reached the maintenance hatch to the geothermal reactor. "You can access the power plant controls from here." Olivia informed the two soldiers, pointing to a manhole looking hatch embedded in the floor of an industrial looking section of Sanctuary. A direct contrast to the rest of the complex, this section had immense cables and venting that quickly became concealed as they fed power and heat to other districts. "Only Walter has the access codes though!"
Wade took a breath, opening the flap on his gauntlet and activating his tool kit. "Check on the evacuation. This might take a few..." Before he could finish his sentence, Rufus moved to the hatch and dug the powerful hands of his robot body around the hatch and pulled it free in a spray of sparks. "Okaay..." Wade said, ducking to the side as the hatch was tossed over his head. He looked down the long crawl way as Olivia activated her wrist communicator again. "I guess I'll have to crawl down there, deactivate the fails safes and set the..."
Rufus pulled two thermite grenades from the magnetic bandolier that crossed diagonally over his robot body's chest as Wade was speaking, interrupting him with the sound of a resonating ping from each cylinder. Wade watched as the two explosives fell silently down the hole. "Why did I even come this way?" Wade asked, looking up at Rufus. The robot body shrugged as a deafening shockwave erupted from the broken hatchway. "I give it ten minutes before every volcano in a one hundred mile radius blows its top. How's that evac?"
"Nearly complete. Looks like it's just us left!" Olivia replied.
"Good, let's go!" Wade ordered.
Ron dodged energy blasts as he raced down the halls, attracting as many of the synthodrones as he could away from Joss and the evacuees into following him instead. He rounded a corner to find another group of synthetics and let out a loud whistle. The two dozen synthodrones turned their heads in perfect synchronization and leveled their rifles. Ron waved and smiled, vanishing around the corner of the hall as quickly as he had appeared and the group of synthodrones that had been chasing him crossed the hall as the second group filled the area with energy. Synthodrones began exploding, then returning fire.
Ron peeked back around from the next corner and chuckled. "That was even easier than I thought it would be..." As he turned away from the carnage, a small form on the floor caught his eye and he picked up a familiar black and white stuffed toy. Tilting his head to the side slightly, he smiled down at the sad, lonely eyes of the Pandaroo.
Kim and Walter rounded a corner on their way toward the emergency exit nearest the Kepler. The path had been clear so far, with Ron being heard racing through the maze of hallways and taunting the army of synthodrones that he had collected behind him. Without notice, a green blast of energy tore apart the corner Kim had just passed, knocking her against the opposite wall in surprise. She pushed Walter behind her instinctively to protect him and shielded her face from the shrapnel with her gauntlet. Kim scanned the end of the hall with her targeting reticle, trying to identify her opponent through the smoke and debris, but the only word that appeared was UNKNOWN.
"You lose, Princess!" came the familiar voice. The blazing green hands began to shine through the smoke and Kim spun back behind what was remaining of the corner. "Last time we met, you had a bit of an upgrade. Now it's my turn!"
"Shego?" Kim whispered to herself. "A synthomech?"
"Don't you see, Kim?" Walter said. "That should have been you!"
"Shut up and let me think." Kim replied, trying to listen to Shego's movements.
"You could fight Drakken's programming. Be immortal, like Shego is. Indestructible. Wait until he's weak and then destroy him with his own technology!" Walter's eyes had glazed over somewhat and he was grinning maniacally. "You could save the world this time!"
"This time?!" Kim asked angrily. Before she knew what Walter was planning, he had already stepped out from behind the corner of the wall and was facing Shego. "Walter!"
"Shego, help me!" he pleaded. "They're going to destroy Sanctuary. You've got to stop her!"
With an evil smile, Shego pointed her arm at Walter and the digitization weapon popped out from her forearm. "Oh, I intend to." Walter skidded to a stop, horrified. Panicking, he tried to scramble away before his body began to break down into digital pixels and compress into a stream of data. His scream became a piercing tone of static until he finally disappeared into the lens of the digitization weapon. "Mmm... that felt good." Shego stated with a grin as the weapon retracted back into her forearm.
Shego's presence meant a few things to Kim. One was that Drakken's Charon phase had been at least a partial success, and he now had at least two synthomechs under his command. Secondly, it meant that Josh Mankey hadn't been exaggerating. Drakken had the capability to bring people that had been digitized out in a number of forms. It was a bittersweet development as Erik had been enough of an ongoing difficulty and yet the concept of being able to force Drakken into reestablishing all of the lives he had stolen gave Kim a shimmer of renewed hope.
"What's the matter, Kimmie?" Shego taunted, carefully moving forward toward the corner that Kim was hiding behind. "Gotten too old for witty banter?"
"Not likely, Shego!" Kim shouted into the hall, eyeing the corner she needed to reach that would lead her to the Kepler. "Just shocked at your new look. How long before the botox lets you show emotion?" she smirked. The myonetic systems in her battle armor charged and she began to lunge down the hall, firing her pistol rapidly into Shego's chest.
Shego took each shot with a minimum of impact and clasped her hands together, charging a massive bolt of green plasma. She fired it into Kim's chest plate, and slammed her into the wall at the end of the hall. The plaster cracked as Kim left an impression, then fell face first onto the floor, dropping her pistol before rolling around the corner that she had been trying to reach. "You're running?!" Shego laughed, running toward the corner Kim had disappeared behind. "I guess you really were never in my league!" she shouted.
Turning the corner with hands full of energy, Shego met the angry eyes of Kim as her battle armor's charged gauntlet struck her in the face three times before Shego's head snapped back. Before Shego even began her descent to the floor, Kim followed through with an uppercut with her other hand that lifted Shego off of her feet.
Shego's vision blurred to static for a moment and she stared up at the ceiling from her prone position. She lifted a hand to her face, feeling the normally nearly smooth hexes that made up her features rearrange themselves back to their normal positions. Even with her new body, she was feeling pain reminiscent of their last battle in the Buenos Nachos Headquarters. She shook her head and performed a kip up to her feet. Kim was gone, but she knew where the flame haired heroine was heading.
"Kim!" Joss shouted from the top of a ladder as Kim crossed the threshold between Sanctuary and the rocky tunnel. "This place is about to get a whole lot hotter!"
Rufus stood at the bottom of the ladder, too heavy and bulky to climb with his robot body. "Everyone is clear, Kim." came the methodical electronic voice of Rufus' translator.
"Not quite." Kim said with a grimace as a green plasma blast streaked over her head. She dove into a series of hand springs as another volley of Shego's blasts followed her into the tunnel. "Rufus, I need your battle suit!"
Shego raced into the escape tunnel in time to see Kim disappear through a top hatch and a heavy suit of armor that was standing at the base of a ladder. Whoever it was, was now in her way and Shego grabbed the bulky armor by the shoulder and spun it around, drawing back and energizing a hand.
Her smile faded when she saw that the face plate was open and a tiny empty cockpit was all that was in the helmet. Her eyes then widened at the tiny digital timer situated behind the empty chair. She looked up to see the naked mole rat grin and give a crisp salute before the hatch was closed. "KIIMM!"
Kim watched the volcano continue to erupt from a distance as she stood, back in her GJ uniform. Their hasty retreat had kept them from securing the passengers properly, and she had ordered Joss to set down at a safe distance in order to take stock of their situation. Sanctuary had collapsed, caving in the volcano it was hidden beneath, but with it went another part of Drakken's Styx phase of his project New World Order, as well as another major power generator. They had promised Olivia and the Sanctuary refugees transport to the Passages. It wasn't the luxury that Sanctuary had, but at least it was safe. She felt Joss step up beside her, but she kept watching the chain of explosions spew molten rock over the desert in the night sky. "How are our guests?" she asked.
"Pretty shaken up. But they'll survive." Joss said quietly. "Still think the world's worth saving, Kim?"
Kim cast her younger cousin a sideways glance. "Why not?"
"Well, half of the people we try to save try to either kill us, or simply don't want saved." Joss said with a frown.
"People are scared. They've lost hope in all the good things in the world and it'll take time to show them that we represent a chance at making things better." Kim explained.
"I guess." Joss said, watching the glowing embers of magma arc through he sky. "Think we stopped Shego?"
"Must've." Kim said without hesitation. Joss raised an eyebrow and shook her head. "You don't think so either?"
"Shego versus a volcano?" Joss asked, turning toward the Kepler. She spotted Ron holding the pandaroo she had found earlier, waiting for their conversation to end.
Kim sighed. "I've got a feeling this war just took a real bad turn, Joss."
"Chin up, Kim." Joss replied with a smile before walking away to be replaced by Ron.
"Hey Ron." Kim smiled.
"Another success, Kim." Ron said, returning the smile. "Kepler's almost overloaded with people we're bringing to safety."
"Yeah."
Ron looked at her with curiosity and confusion. "I found something in Sanctuary that you might like." he said, holding out the cuddle buddy.
Kim looked down at the stuffed toy with the sad eyes with feigned disinterest, but not moving toward it. "It's probably..."
"One of the refugees toys?" Ron finished for her. "No one will lay claim to it."
"Then it's obviously a..."
"Trap? It was. Had Wade check it out. Had a burned out surveillance system in it that he replaced with some more stuffing." Ron explained, pushing it toward her again.
"Burned out?" she asked, taking it in her hands and feeling the soft fleece fur. She hadn't been able to collect anything from her home on prom night other than her mother and brothers. She dismissed the question after a moment of no explanation from Ron. "Thanks, Ron." Kim smiled, rubbing noses with the toy.
Shego strode into Drakken's throne room, glaring at his back as he oversaw a number of view screens that were being holographically displayed into the air. "Drakken!" she shouted in rage.
Drakken turned, the red light in his mechanical eye dilating in response to her form. "It's Lord Drakken, Shego."
Shego's hands erupted in green flame as she stepped toward him and moved to swipe her clawed hand across his chest. But with blinding speed, his mechanical arm caught her wrist and he narrowed his natural eye at her. Shego stared at Drakken's hand as it continued to clamp around her wrist and she tried to pull away. "You sent me to die, Drakken!"
"I thought you could handle one group of power rangers. My mistake." he replied, releasing her wrist. Shego looked down at her arm and the imprints of Drakken's mechanical fingers. "Besides, you came back, didn't you?" he asked, turning his back on her to face his view screens again.
Shego continued to stare at her hand for a moment before the green flame died out. "So, now what?"
"We wait." Drakken said in irritation. "Kim Possible will make another mistake soon, and when she does... you will be ready."